EMBERS AND THE GIANTS
2019 | IMAX短片，6分30秒，12路音频
最初委托作为外部世界IMAX项目的一部分，由加拿大150资助
2020 b|视频安装，6分30秒，4K-6K宽屏，6-12声道音频
画廊装置由约克Mediale和约克博物馆信托委托，由英格兰艺术委员会资助
选定文本
Embers and the Giants, George Vasey for York Mediale
选择媒体
CBC ARTS – Exhibitionists, CBC Television
项目简介
Embers and the Giants呈现了一个濒临灭绝的原始森林在最后的光，由数千个漂浮的余烬光连接。最初的印象可能是我们目睹了罕见而异常美丽的萤火虫表演，或者是森林大火的余烬。观众看得越久，就越明显地发现，我们目睹的并不是一个自然奇观。我们正在通过数千架模仿自然奇观的微型无人机见证人类的干预，这表明我们需要放大自然奇观，以说服公众相信它的价值。
温哥华岛上的古树，其中一些树龄高达2000年，是工业伐木的罕见遗迹。它是沿海道格拉斯冷杉生态系统的一部分，是加拿大最濒危的物种之一。由于地球上大部分的古老树木都被砍伐了，它现在是极其罕见的巨树的家园，是生态系统的重要组成部分，它维持着野生动物，储存着大量的大气碳，清洁着我们的水域，也是许多第一民族文化的重要组成部分。然而，这些不可替代的森林继续以比全球热带雨林消失速度快三倍的速度消失。仅在温哥华岛，每天就有34个足球场大小的树木被砍伐。就像这些巨树一样，随着全球数量的迅速减少，萤火虫也面临着灭绝的威胁。
自工业革命以来，我们用自然资源转化来衡量进步。因此，在我们的有生之年，地球上已经失去了一半的野生动物。一些世界顶级气候科学家现在声称，如果我们不立即停止导致气候变化的行动(通过资源转换、化石燃料等)，人类将被列入灭绝名单。到2023年，我们必须彻底改变我们与地球的关系。
在气候变化引起的大规模环境破坏不是会不会发生的问题，而是什么时候发生的问题的时候，恩伯斯和巨人们质疑我们对保护环境的呼吁。这项工作的灵感来自于2016年的两篇关于受威胁的原始森林的新闻文章，这些文章在发现自然奇观(分别是萤火虫和大树)之后，讨论了保护这些森林的成功案例。这两个地区现在都是非常受欢迎的旅游目的地。鉴于世界范围内持续大规模生物多样性丧失的可怕后果，重要的生态系统何时值得保护?在这样一个关键时刻，我们如何能够继续为他们的损失辩护?这个理由是在什么标准下衡量的?在未来，人们将如何看待这些指标?根据目前的预测，我们的未来会是什么样子?
从策展人乔治·维西关于余烬和巨人的文章中，“气候变化是一种缓慢的暴力形式，经过了几代人的发展。虽然通常很难把握，但它的伤痕却很深。艺术家的当务之急是使抽象具体化，在人们的脑海中描绘出一幅生动的画面。理查森为21世纪重新创造了崇高，为我们呈现了融合了幽灵和壮观的景观。在这样做的过程中，她创造了一种技术与自然相遇的第三空间;记忆和对未来的憧憬在这里碰撞。
用洛德的话说，诗歌把语言变成思想，变成切实的行动。同样地，《EMBERS AND THE GIANTS》的情感提议是对行动的呼吁。理查森把目光转向了对剩余48%生物多样性的认可和责任。她盯着我们的目光，让我们再也无法回避。”
委员会简介
为庆祝IMAX发明50周年，Public Access Collective和True Frame Productions联合制作了五部全新的大画幅数字短片。该项目的主题与IMAX电影的典型电影类型保持一致:形成外部世界的具有传奇色彩的景观。参与的媒体艺术家包括:奥利弗·侯赛因、丽莎·杰克逊、凯莉·理查森、迈克尔·斯诺和莱拉·苏吉尔。这部名为《外部世界》的电影于2019年4月在影像节上首映，地点是位于多伦多安大略广场的世界上第一家永久性IMAX影院“华语圈”。
制作
导演:凯利·理查森
制片人:Janine Marchessault, Chris Kroitor
摄像师:汤姆·霍尔
声音:蒂姆·阿彻
视觉效果:凯利·理查森、马克·乔布
制作助理:Paul Walde;
EMBERS AND THE GIANTS
2019 | IMAX short film, 6 minutes 30 seconds, 12 channels of audio
Originally commissioned as part of the Outer Worlds IMAX project funded by Canada 150
2020 | video installation, 6 minutes 30 seconds, 4K-6K widescreen, 6-12 channels of audio
Gallery installation commissioned by York Mediale and York Museums Trust with funding from Arts Council England
SELECTED TEXT
Embers and the Giants, George Vasey for York Mediale
SELECTED PRESS
CBC ARTS – Exhibitionists, CBC Television
About the project
Embers and the Giants presents an endangered old-growth forest during last light, articulated by thousands of floating embers of light. Initial impressions may be that we are witness to a rare and exceptionally beautiful display of fireflies or the embers from a forest fire out of frame. The longer viewers look, the more evident it becomes that we are not witnessing a natural spectacle. We are witnessing human intervention through thousands of tiny drones mimicking a natural spectacle, suggesting a time when we will need to amplify the spectacle of nature in order to convince the public of its worth.
Ancient trees on Vancouver Island, some of which are up to 2000 years old, are the rare remnants of industrial logging. Part of the Coastal Douglas-fir ecosystem, it is one of the most endangered in Canada. With most of the planet’s old-growth logged worldwide, it is home to now extremely rare giant trees, a vital part of the ecosystems which sustain wildlife, store vast quantities of atmospheric carbon, clean our waters and an important part of many First Nations cultures. Yet the loss of these irreplaceable forests continues at a pace three times faster than tropical rainforests are disappearing worldwide. 34 football fields of old-growth is logged every single day on Vancouver Island alone. Like these giant trees, with quickly dwindling numbers globally fireflies are also threatened with extinction.
Since the industrial revolution, we have measured progress through natural resource conversion. As a result, Earth has lost half of its wildlife within our lifetime. Some of the world’s top climate scientists are now claiming that if we don’t immediately halt actions contributing to climate change (through resource conversion, fossil fuels, etc), human beings will be added to the extinction list. We have until 2023 to radically shift our relationship with the living planet.
Embers and the Giants questions our calls for preservation at a time when large-scale environmental breakdown caused by climate change is not a case of if but when. The idea for the work was inspired by two news articles accessed in 2016 about threatened old-growth forests which, after the discovery of a natural spectacle (fireflies and giant trees respectively), successful cases for preservation were argued. Both areas are now extremely popular tourist destinations. In light of the terrifying fallout of continued, large-scale biodiversity loss worldwide, when are vital ecosystems worthy of preservation? How are we able to continue to justify their loss at such a critical juncture? Under what metrics is that justification measured? In the future, how will those metrics be viewed? What will our futures look like given current predictions?
From curator George Vasey’s essay on Embers and the Giants, “Climate change is a form of slow violence, enacted over many generations. While it is often difficult to grasp, its scars run deep. The urgency for artists is to make the abstract, concrete and paint a vivid picture in people’s minds. Richardson re-makes the sublime for the 21st century, presenting us with landscapes that merge the spectral and the spectacular. In doing so, she creates a kind of third space where technology and nature meet; where memory and visions of the future collide.
To paraphrase Audio Lorde, poetry turns language into ideas into tangible action. Likewise, Embers and the Giants’ emotional overtures is a call to action. Richardson turns looking into recognition into responsibility for the 48% of remaining biodiversity. She fixes our gaze so we can’t avert it any longer.”
About the commission
Public Access Collective and True Frame Productions came together to commission five new large-format digital film shorts in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the invention of IMAX. The theme for the commissioned program is in keeping with the cinematic genre typical of IMAX films: the larger-than-life landscape that forms an outer world. Participating media artists include: Oliver Husain, Lisa Jackson, Kelly Richardson, Michael Snow and Leila Sujir. The program, entitled Outer Worlds, premiered at Images Festival in April 2019 at the Cinesphere, the world’s first permanent IMAX movie theatre located in Toronto at Ontario Place.
Credits
Director: Kelly Richardson
Producers: Janine Marchessault, Chris Kroitor
Camera operator: Tom Hall
Sound: Tim Archer
Visual Effects: Kelly Richardson, Mark Jobe
Production Assistants: Paul Walde, Jordan Hill, Hollis Roberts, Ronald Ramsay
Supported by
Canada Council for the Arts’ New Chapter Program
Sincere gratitude to Pacheedaht First Nation for allowing us to film in their territory, Ancient Forest Alliance for their incredible guidance, Soule Creek Lodge and Mile Beach Cottages for their generous support with accommodation.
